posted Feb 12th, 2020 - The NSL News gave the Rookie Class thriller and the SkyVenture New Hampshire 4-way juniors of Gen Z special attention on February 2nd. The duel between Gen Z and 4 Minute Call was the closest competition at this year's SkyVenture New Hampshire Indoor Fest.

The AAA Class competition at this event has usually been in the spotlight, and it was once again very competitive at the first indoor competition of the year. The scoring numbers could not keep up with the ones of the winner between 2017 and 2019, Ranch 2nd Generation. However, the three top teams were separated by only eight points this year, which made the AAA Class competition the closest one behind the Rookie Class.

In fact, the absence of Ranch 2nd Generation allowed the three other teams this year to battle for the 1st place. The closest distance to R2G in the AAA Class was 15 points for Lite XP in 2017. R2G increased it to 41 points a year later and won by 54 points last year.

The competition for the 1st place this January was as open again as it was in the early years of the SkyVenture New Hampshire Indoor Fest.

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SkyVenture New Hampshire 2020		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	16,A,10		18,7,Q		M,N,C,17		P,15,D,1		14,B,G,20		J,21,3		9,K,H,11		L,6,22		20,O,13				Total	Avg
1	Total Compliance 2.0	18		18	-1	27	-1	19	-1	16	-1	16	-1	20	-1	13	-2	14		29		190	19.0
2	Flying Spaghetti Monsters	19		17	-1	24	-1	19		16	-1	17		21	-1	15	-2	11	-1	28		187	18.7
3	SNE Fly Girls	17		17	-2	23		19	-1	15	-2	18		19	-1	15		16		23		182	18.2
4	Centercell Minus 1	14		14	-1	20	-1	16	-1	11	-2	14		12	-2	11	-1	11		19		142	14.2
5	Special Effects!	11		10		13	-1	11		11		12		12		9	-3	10		14		113	11.3

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Different lineups of Mass Defiance and DeLand Shmeland fought out the AAA Class top spot between 2010 and 2016. It was always a good battle, and the difference was always close - until Ranch 2nd Generation took over the top spot. This year's event was the first time that three teams finished as close to each other as the difference of eight points between 1st and 3rd place.

Event organizer Ben Liston and his variations of the original Mass Defiance lineup at the annual events at SkyVenture New Hampshire had won several AAA Class titles in the past, the last one in 2016, when Ranch 2nd Generation was still competing in the A Class. His Total Compliance lineup, with original Mass Defiance team mate Jim Reese in action during the breaks from judging, was back in contention this year, and Ben Liston won his third title.

Doug Hendrix was already in last year's Defiance lineup at SkyVenture New Hampshire, together with three original Mass Defiance members (Ben Liston, John Silva, Brian Stephens). Brian Boyle has been on Ben Liston's list for a while, as the NSL News reported last year: "Ben Liston said that Doug Hendrix and Brian Boyle both are up and coming skydivers in the U.S. competition world."

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Total Compliance - Flying Spaghetti Monsters - SNE Fly Girls at SkyVenture New Hampshire 2020

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Ben Liston and Jim Rees with their new team mates finished only shortly behind (19.7 - 19.0) the Defiance lineup of 2019 and fended off the challenge by pickup team Flying Spaghetti Monsters. Two Lite XP members (Dave Grabowski, Andre Van Heerden) joined forces with Roger Cunha and Alex Jordaan. Andre Van Heerden and Alex Jordaan know each other well from training and competing with the South African national 4-way team Savolo.

The most improved team of this year's indoor competition finished in 3rd place. SNE Fly Girls posted an impressive 18.2 average at SkyVenture New Hampshire and claimed two AAA Class highscores on the way to the 3rd place, tying the highscores in two more rounds.

SNE Fly Girls had finished with 14.1 (2018) and 14.8 (2019) in the past two years, and the 18.2 average indicates a new ball game for the same lineup this year. SNE Fly Girls still competed in the Advanced Class at the USPA Nationals 2019 before posting their scores on the 4-way Women leaderboard at the FAI World Cup 2019. They were not too far behind the best U.S. team, Phoenix XP, in Eloy. The great indoor start into the 2020 season is promising an even more competitive situation in U.S. 4-way Women competition this year.